Despite the doom and gloom surrounding Nintendo lately, the Wii U has pretty much owned the last few months in terms of offering the definitive gaming experience of the summer, thanks to the success of Mario kart 8, the latest title in the company’s popular Mario Kart franchise.

Unfortunately for Nintendo, even though Mario Kart managed to sell 2.82 million copies in just over a month and pushed the Wii U’s sales to 510,000 during that period, this wasn’t enough to bring the company to profitability resulting in $92.6 million dollars in losses this quarter.

Still, Nintendo’s E3 2014 line up was arguably the best at the show and included titles like Mario Maker, Super Smash Bros., Yoshi’s Wooly World, Splatoon, new spin-off Captain Toad’s Treasure Tracker and perhaps most importantly, a brief glimpse at the upcoming Wii U Zelda.

Despite the impressive showing, three experimental “Project” games helmed by legendary Nintendo developer Shigeru Miyamoto, are by far the most interesting things Nintendo is working on. They also finally show off the potential of the company’s struggling Wii U console. While recent titles like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze pretend the console’s unique GamePad doesn’t exist, these innovative titles use the controller in unique ways. They’re also exactly what Nintendo needs to separate itself from Sony and Microsoft.

At a recent Nintendo E3 preview event in Toronto I had the chance to go hands-on with Project Guard and Project Giant Robot, two titles I missed checking out at E3 back in June.

Project Guard turns the GamePad into a quick-jump map

Project Guard’s tower defense gameplay is compelling.

Miyamoto’s Project Guard turns the Wii U’s GamePad into a handy map used to jump between various cameras. The player moves the GamePad around, controlling the viewpoint of a stationary security camera, aiming it at the oncoming onslaught of tiny robots, with the ultimate goal of preventing these robotic beasts from reaching a central point on the map.

The trick to this game involves quickly switching between cameras and keeping your watchful, constantly moving eyes focused on both the Wii U’s GamePad and the television simultaneously. Cameras can also be rearranged at the beginning of matches and this adds a surprising level of strategy to the title.

The game falls directly into the popular tower defense genre but also manages to put a unique spin on this kind of game. Hopefully Nintendo is able to expand the concept into something broader and more in-depth. Still, it’s great to see the big N acknowledge the potential the GamePad has with an innovative expirement.

Project Giant Robot is rough but has potential

Project Giant Robot definitely needs work but the idea of controlling a hulking metallic beast in what is basically a virtual sumo wrestling match, is very appealing fun.

The GamePad’s joysticks are used to extend the robot’s arms and punching is performed by jerking the controller forwards and right or forwards and left, depending on what arm the player wants to punch with. This is where things fell apart for me because my punches often weren’t recognized by the GamePad. It’s possible this could have been because the controller wasn’t calibrated properly since very few critics have complained about this issue.

The Wii U’s GamePad also acts as the robot’s cockpit, giving you a first person perspective of the action. While a little jarring at first, just like the few initial Wii U titles release on the console that actually take unique advantage of the Gamepad, after a few confusing attempts, it all started to make sense.

What’s interesting are the game’s clunky controls actually make it feel like you’re controlling a huge, skyscrapper-sized robot. Building up momentum to knock my opponents over also became a big part of my strategy during my time with the game.

With a small amount of work and some tweaking, Giant Robot could be a great, very different kind of experience, something Nintendo needs right now on the Wii U.

Star Fox shows what the Wii U is all about

Unfortunately Star Fox is set for a 2015 release date, just like almost every big upcoming video game.

While Star Fox wasn’t playable at this particular Nintendo event, it was demonstrated at E3 and was by far the most impressive demo out of its three expiremental projects. Players steer their Arwing, the Star Fox universe’s fighter jet-like craft, with the left control stick and the GamePad’s gyro-sensor is used for aiming.

This means the player needs to move the GamePad around in the real-world in order to aim, a confusing control scheme that looks like it doesn’t make much sense at first.

The GamePad is also your cockpit and the television acts as your view from the Arwing’s rear – this is perhaps the best use of the Wii U’s GamePad we’ve seen yet. While simple, this concept is very intuitive and simulates what it might feel like to be in an actual aircraft, giving Star Fox Wii U a clear advantage over previous entries in the franchise.

In many flight simulator style games, looking behind your aircraft is often a chore. Star Fox Wii U’s control scheme seems to make performing this task much easier since you always have a clear view of what is going on behind you.

The Wii U’s future lies in unique, innovative titles

Nintendo’s Wii U has a lot of untapped potential. Handout/Nintendo

While these three titles might sound like nothing more than Nintendo Land mini-games that didn’t make the cut, there’s more to them than this. They show the Wii U has innovative, untapped potential and that Nintendo is still committed to giving gamers unique titles that take advantage of the console’s GamePad.

Nintendo Land is arguably one of the only Wii U titles that truly needs the GamePad to work from a gameplay mechanics perspective and is one of the only experience offered on the console that just wouldn’t work on another system (it’s also a great game). Hopefully Nintendo expands their Project titles into full-fledged games, particularly when it comes to Star Fox.

Thanks to Microsoft’s recent changes to the Xbox One – dropping the Kinect and lowering its price to $399 – both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One are almost identical in terms of features.

With the Wii U, Nintendo has an opportunity to be the quirky third combatant in the console war, and nothing shows off this potential more than the company’s in-house developed first-party titles, especially now that third-party development support for the Wii U has all but disapeared

The company’s “Project” series has the potential to become something special and could encourage many gamers to pick up the Wii U as a secondary console to accompany their hardcore-focused PS4 or Xbox One, especially given the nostalgic connection many people have with Nintendo’s brand.

The company’s Project titles are a perfect example of Nintendo innovation at its finest.